Context: Recently, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare today presided over the release of National Fact Sheet Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4), India, 2019.
Global Youth Tobacco Survey

• It is a self-administered, school-based survey of students in grades associated with 13 to 15 years of age.
• It is designed to enhance the capacity of countries to monitor tobacco use among youth and to guide the implementation and evaluation of tobacco prevention and control programmes.
• It is developed by World Health Organization (WHO), the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (OSH-CDC).
• It uses a standard methodology for constructing the sampling frame, selecting schools and classes, preparing questionnaires, following consistent field procedures, and using consistent data management procedures for data processing and analysis.
• It is an important tool to assist countries in supporting WHO MPOWER, a package of six evidence-based demand reduction measures contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Key Highlights 

• It was conducted in 2019 by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
• The survey was designed to produce national estimates of tobacco use among school going children aged 13-15 years at the state level and Union Territory (UT) by sex, location of school (rural-urban), and management of school (public-private).
• The first three rounds of GYTS were conducted in 2003, 2006 and 2009.
• The objective of the survey was to provide information on tobacco use, cessation, second-hand smoke, access and availability, exposure to anti-tobacco information, awareness and receptivity to tobacco marketing, knowledge, and attitudes.

Key Findings of the Survey

• Use of Tobacco: Nearly one-fifth of the students aged 13-15 used any form of tobacco product (smoking, smokeless, and any other form) in their life. However, there has been a 42% decline in tobacco use in the past decade.
• Gender wise: The use of any form of tobacco was higher among boys than girls. 
• State-wise: The current use of tobacco among students across the States/ UTs ranged from the highest in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram (58% each) to the lowest in Himachal Pradesh (1.1%) and Karnataka (1.2%).
• Age of Initiation of Tobacco: 38% of cigarettes, 47% of bidi smokers and 52% of smokeless tobacco users initiated the use before their 10th birthday.
• Second-hand smoke: 29.5% of the students were exposed to second-hand smoke (11.2% at home, 21.2% inside enclosed public places, 23.4% at outdoor public places.
• Use of E-Cigarettes: The use of e-cigarette among the students was 2.8%.